Container closing mechanism



Sept. 29, 1953 F, HUNTAR ErAL 2,653,745

CONTAINER CLOSING MECHANISM Filed DSC. 2l, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet l Sept.29, 1953 F. HUNTAR ETAL 2,653,745

CONTAINER CLOSING MECHANISM Filed Dec.v2l, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheerl 2 ATrae/ver Patented Sept. Z9,A 1953 2,653,745 n CONTAINER CLOSINGMECHANISM Felix Huntar, Livingston, and Gustav Otto Frey,

Newark, N. J., assignors to American Can Company, New York, N. Y., acorporation of New Jersey Applicationy December 21, 1949, Serial N0.134,283

4 Claims. (Cl. 226-81) The present invention relates to a mechanism forclosing containers and the like and has particular reference to devicesfor closing hinged closure members attached to containers and forpressing them down tight into fully closed position.

An object of the instant invention is the provision of a containerclosing mechanism of simple and novel construction which may be utilizedas a part of a more elaborate machine and which efficiently and rapidlyhinges an attached closure member into closing position andsimultaneously presses it toward the container to which it is attachedfor locking the closure element in fully closed position.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparentas it is better understood from the following description, whiich,takenr in connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses apreferred embodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan View lof a container closing mechanism embodying theinstant invention, with parts broken away and with containers in placein the mechanism;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevational view taken substantially along a planeindicated by the line 2--2 in Fig. 1, with parts broken away and withparts omitted;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. l showing certain of the movable partsin a different position;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig, 2 showing a fragmentary portion of themechanism with certain of the movable parts in a different position;

Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing in detail certain of theparts of the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 4; and

Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are schematic views of a portion of the closingmechanism and the upper end of a container having a hingeable closuremember and illustrating how the closure member is hinged into closingposition to fully close the container.

As a preferred and exemplary embodiment of the instant invention thedrawings illustrate a mechanism for closing fibre containers A such asthe milk container disclosed in United States Patent 2 085,979 issuedJuly 6. 1937, to John M. Hothersall, although the invention is equallywell adapted to closing a great varietyfof other containers andarticles. The exemplary container A is provided in its top wall with afilling and dispensing opening B (Figs. land 3) which is 2 sealed by africtionplug closure element or member C (see also Fig. 4) hingedlyconnected by a staple D tothe container top wall.

During a container filling operation, the closure member C is in raisedor yopen position as shown 'in Figs. 1, 3, 4 and 6 to expose the openingB.'When it is desired to close the opening B, the friction plug closuremember C is hinged into position into the opening and is pushed downtight to fully close and seal the container. In some cases, this closingof the member C may be reffected before filling the container, forexample during the sterilizing step in the manufacture of the containerto maintain its interior in a ,sterile condition during shipment andstorage or for other reasons.

By way of example, the drawings illustrate the containers A immediatelyfollowing a filling operation, the containers being in an uprightposition and supported on a curved runway 2l (Figs. lr and 3) of aconventional filling machine. In this position, the filled containers,with their closure members C open and in raised position, are advancedalong the runway 2l in a substantially continuous procession, preferablyin an intermittent or step-by-step manner, in spaced and timed order,the containers being disposed in spaced pockets 22 formed in the outerperiphery of a feed turret 23 carried on and rotated by a vertical shaft(not shown). The shaft may be rotated in any suitabley manner in timewith the otherr moving parts of the mechanism. A guide rail 24 disposedadjacent the periphery of the turret 23 retains the containers in theirpockets 22 during advancement of the containers along the support. f y

During advancement of a container A along the runway 2|, it is' movedinto a closing station F (Fig. 1) for the closing operation. At thisstation the advanced container is also engaged in a pair of verticallyspaced pockets 2l formed in the outer-periphery of a discharge turret2'! (see Fig.-2) carried on and rotated byfa verticalshaft 28. Thisshaft is rotated in any suit able manner in time with the shaft of thefeed turretV 23 so that the peripheral speeds of the feed turret and thedischarge turret 21 are substantially equal.

While the container A is thus disposed in the pockets 22, y26 of thefeed turret 23 and the discharge turret 21 respectively, at the closingstation F, the yopen and upright closure member C of the container ishinged down into closed position as explained above. This operation iseffected preferably while the container is stationary at the closingstation between partial rotations of the turrets. However it may bereadily effected without stopping the container if this is desired.

The closing operation is brought about by a closing shoe 3| which ismovable into and out of closing position immediately above the path oftravel of the container disposed at or moving through the closingstation F. This shoe 3| preferably is a flat horizontally disposed platehaving an upturned curved nose 32 formed on its leading end (see Figs. 2and 5). The shoe is formed on the outer end of a lever 34 which at itsinner end is formed with a bearing 35 mounted on a pivot pin 36 securedin the outer end of a movable actuating arm 31.

Adjacent the shoe lever bearing 35, the pivot pin 36 carries a camlever'38 which extends in a direction opposite to that of the shoe lever34 and which at its outer end carries a cam roller 4|. The cam roller 4|operates in a groove 42 of a stationary segmental barrel cam 43 carriedon a stationary support bracket 44 having a bearing 45 for the upper endof the discharge turret shaft 28 (see Fig. 2). The inner ends of theshoe lever 34 and the cam lever 38 are loosely mounted on the pivot pin35 but are yieldably tied together by a spring connection which includesa bolt 41 (Fig. The bolt 41 extends through clearance holes 48 formed ina pair of lugs 49, 50 which project up from the shoe lever and the camlever respectively. Beyond the lugs 49, 50 the bolt 41 carries acompression spring 5| which is held in place by a nut 52 threadedlyconnected to the outer end of the bolt. Through this spring connectionthe shoe lever 34 is yieldable relative to the cam lever 38.

The actuating arm 31 which carries the shoe lever 34 and the cam lever38, is formed at its inner end, with a bearing 55 (Figs. 1 and 2) whichrests on the bearing 45 of the shaft 28 and which surrounds the upperend of the shaft, thereby providing a pivotal mounting for the arm. Acollar 56 secured to the shaft above the arm bearing 55 holds the arm inplace on the shaft.

The arm 31 is oscillated on the shaft 28 by cam action, through aforward or closing stroke toward. the container disposed at the closingstation F, and thence through a return stroke to clear the container,this action being effected in time with the movement of the containerinto the closing station. For this purpose, the arm 31 intermediate itsends, is pivotally connected to one end of a link 58 (Figs. 1 and 2).The opposite end of the link is pivotally connected to a long leg 53 ofa bell crank lever 60 carried on a pivot pin 6| secured in thestationary bracket 44. A short leg 62 of the bell crank lever carries acam roller 63 which operates in a cam groove 64 of a face cam 65 mountedon a rotatable shaft 66 journaled in the bracket 44. The shaft 66 isrotated in any suitable manner in time with the other moving parts ofthe mechanism so as to effect one revolution of the cam 65 for everycontainer A positioned at or moved through the closing station F. Thecam normally holds the closing shoe 3| out of the path of travel of thecontainers and in a plane just above the tops of the containers as bestshown in Figs. 3 and 4.

Hence every time a container A is positioned at or is moved through theclosing station F, the cam 65, through the bell crank lever 60 and link58, swings the actuating arm 31 starting with the position shown in Fig.3, through a closing stroke toward the container and in a planeimmediately above the container. During this closing stroke of the arm31, the closing shoe 3| carried thereon, moves into position behind theupright open closing element C of the container as shown in Fig. 6 andengages and forces the closure element with a hinging action down intoclosing position into the opening B of the container, the shoe 3| ridingover the top of the closing element into the position shown in Figs. 1and 7.

While the closing shoe 3| thus moves forward, the cam roller 4| on thecam lever 38 traverses its cam groove 42. The cam groove is shaped, seeFig. 2, so that when the shoe 3| reaches the place in its forward travelwhere it is fully over and covering the closed closure element C asshown in Figs. 1 and 7, the cam roller 4| is lifted so as to rock thecam lever 38 upwardly. This cam action, rocks the shoe lever 34downwardly and thus presses the shoe 3| down against the closure elementC and forces it tightly into its fully closed position in the opening Bof the container. The compression spring 5| of the spring connectionbetween the cam lever 38 and the shoe lever 34 permits of sufficientoverthrow of the cam 43 to insure full compressing action of the shoe 3|while at the same time providing a yielding action which allows the shoe3| to stop when the closure element C is fully closed. Through thisyieldable or spring connection crushing of the top of the container isprevented.

After such a closing operation, the cam 65, through the bell crank lever60, and link 58, returns the actuating arm 31 to its original positionas shown in Fig. 3, During this return stroke the shoe 3| is lifted fromthe top of the container, by the cam 43, and is withdrawn from the pathof travel of the containers where it is clear of the upright openclosure element of the next container in the line as it enters or passesthrough the closing station.

In this manner, as each container A enters or passes through the closingstation, its open clo- .sure element C is closed and firmly pressed downinto frictional engagement with the container top wall surrounding thefilling and dispensing openmg B, thus sealing the container. The sealedcontainer is immediately removed from the closing station F by thedischarge turret 21 and is advanced along a container support 68 (Figs.1 and 3) to any suitable place of deposit. This support preferably is acontinuation of the container support 2| along which the containerstravel as .they enter the closing station. A guide rail 69 disposedadjacent the periphery of the discharge turret 21 holds the containersin the pockets 26 of the turret during their advancement along thesupport 68. n It is thought that the invention and many of its attendantadvantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and itwill be apparent that various changes may be 'made in the formconstruction and arrangement of the parts wit I out departing from thespirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its materialadvantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely a preferredembodiment thereof.

We claim:

1. A mechanism for sealing a container by frictionally engaging sealingparts of a hinge closure member with a container wall surrounding itsdispensing opening, comprising a support for the container to be sealed,means for advancing said container along said support in a predeterminedpath with its closure member projecting upwardly in open position, avertically movable closing shoe also adap-ted for substantiallyhorizontal swinging movement in a path substantially tangent to the pathof said upwardly projecting closure member, means for swinging said shoeinto and following the path of the upwardly projecting closure member ofsaid container to hinge the closure member and `bring its frictionalsealing parts adjacent said dispensing opening, and means for movingsaid swinging shoe vertically downwardly against said hinged closuremember to press and frictionally seat the closure member in thedispensing opening of the container.

2. A mechanism for sealing a container by hinging a closure member on aconnecting hinge part to close the dispensing opening of the container,`comp-rising a support for the container to be sealed, means foradvancing said container in upright position along said support in apredetermined path with its dispensing opening in advance of itsconnecting hinge part, and with its closure member projecting upwardlyfrom said hinge part in open position, a closing shoe adapted also forsubstantially horizontal swinging movement in a path substantiallytangent to the path oi the container closure member at one side of thecontainer path adjacent the upper end of the advancing container, meansfor swinging said shoe in back of said projecting closure member toengage and rotate the member forward and down on its hinge connectionand bring the closing part of said member adjacent said dispensingopening, and means for pressing said swinging shoe against saidcontainer closure member to fully seat the closure member and p seal thecontainer.

3. A mechanism for sealing a container by hinging a closure member on aconnected hinge part to close the dispensing opening of the container,comprising a support for the container to be sealed, means foradvancing'said container in an upright position along said support withits dispensing opening in advance of its connecting hinge part and withits closure member projecting upwardly in open position, an oscillatingarm disposed in the horizontal plane above the upright closure member ofsaid advancing container and mounted on a vertical axis disposed at oneside of the container path, a closing shoe depending from and carried bysaid oscillating arm, means for oscillating said arm rst to swing saidshoe out of the path of an advancing container and then to move the shoein back of said container projecting closure member, said shoe engagingand moving the closure member on its hinge connection thereby bringingsaid closure member adjacent the dispensing opening, and means forpivoting the closing shoe on said oscillating arm to press said shoeagainst the container to seat the closure member and seal the container.

4. A mechanism for sealing a container by moving a hinge closure memberinto closing position to seal its dispensing opening, comprising asupport for the container to be sealed, means for advancing saidcontainer in upright position along said support with its vclosuremember projecting upwardly in open position and with the connectinghinge to the rear oi its dispensing opening, an oscillating arm mountedon a vertical axis disposed at one side of the container path, said armbeing movable in the horizontal plane extending above said advancingcontainer, a closing shoe depending from and pivotally carried by saidoscillating arm, means for oscillating said arm iirst to swing said shoeout of the path of an advancing container and then to move the shoe inback of said container projecting closure member, said shoe engaging andmoving the closure member on its hinge connection and thereby bringingthe closure member adjacent the dispensing opening, and means forpivoting said closing shoe during oscillation of said arm, said pivotmeans lifting said shoe during swinging of said arm out of the containerpath and lowering the shoe during its engagement with and hinging ofsaid container closure member to simultaneously seat the closure memberand seal the container during said arm oscillation.

FELIX HUNTAR. GUSTAV OTTO FREY.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,276,523 Gwinn Aug. 20, 1918 1,715,352 Chalmers June 4, 19291,912,906 Maringer June 6, 1933 1,939,126 Manning et al Dec. 12, 19332,110,012 Auban Mar. 1, 1938 2,170,821 Hothersall et al. Aug. 29, 19392,192,106 Ross et al. Feb. 27, 1940 2,284,660 Hothersall et al. June 2,1942 2,353,156 Hobbs July 11, 1944

